Loving your people with food–it’s not going to be perfect.

You. The food. Your people. Not perfect.

Beautiful. But not perfect.

It’s hard for this post not to sound trite. But here is what I’ve got to say.

I’ve confessed here before, I am a perfectionist, longing to be more flexible and not let the need for perfect crowd out moments of peace and joy.  The further into this journey I get, the more I realize sometimes sacrificing the perfect so I can be present is much more important to my people.

Sometimes I just don’t have time to measure flour.  Most of the time this blog is about slowing down and making the time to measure things out, to take time and be slow and intentional. But what do you do when you don’t have time to be slow but you still want to be intentional and show hospitality?

Ya’ll. This summer hasn’t afforded me as much time as I want to slow, so you know what I did? ……I bought cookies. Generic cookies even. Not really that good, cheap cookies. But you know what, I tossed them in the car for a trip we were taking, to show my people, I thought about them and love them.  Sometimes I’ll show my love by baking or cooking something they may remember but here is what I’m learning, they need my presence more than they need my perfect presence. And just because I can’t always practice the kind of hospitality I want to show my loved ones, doesn’t mean I stop practicing. Because love and care is at the heart of hospitality–not homemade, from scratch, baked goods.

This week I’m sharing with you a delicious box mix for chocolate chip cookies, for those days when you want something special but just don’t have the time to measure things out. Maybe it’s a spur of the moment visitor or last minute invite to supper at a friends. Don’t panic about the lack of time for what you may consider worthy of sharing. This cookie mix from King Arthur Flour is made for such days. So keep one in your pantry when you want your day to be sweet but you are short on time.

Bake these up or buy a box of cookies and be present instead of perfect–you’ll still enjoy every crumble!